MANCHESTER UNITED have reportedly joined the race for Ajax’s Ryan Gravenberch – who has been dubbed a ‘better Paul Pogba’.
Dutch outlet SoccerNews reports the Red Devils are after the talented 18-year-old following his rapid development.
The report states the Eredivisie giants could receive up to £26million for their prized asset.
United face plenty of competition with Prem rivals Chelsea and Liverpool also linked.
Runaway league leaders Manchester City have also been mentioned as well as LaLiga giants Barcelona.
Both United and the Blues did business with Ajax last summer which could help them negotiate a deal this time around.
Donny van de Beek arrived at Old Trafford from the club for £40m but has struggled for Premier League minutes under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Club legend Gary Neville slammed the baffling treatment of the Dutchman and suggested it will have left the player feeling ‘really low’.
Chelsea hammered out a deal for playmaker Hakim Ziyech, with the transfer agreement announced in February 2020 before the player arrived ahead of this season.
Liverpool could view the starlet as a potential replacement for Georginio Wijnaldum who has been linked with a free move away from Anfield when his contract expires this summer.
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Gravenberch is under contract until 2023 but it would likely take a hefty transfer fee to prise another homegrown talent away from Amsterdam.
He joined Ajax’s academy in 2010 and became the club’s youngest Eredivisie player aged 16 years and 130 days.
He now has eight goals in 51 first-team appearances – as well as three senior Dutch caps.
Brian Tevreden, who promoted Gravenberch to the Under-15s aged 12 then made him captain, hailed the young midfielder – and made some bold comparisons, including to £89million Manchester United man Pogba.
He told Goal: “Physically, I see Frank [Rijkaard] in him from back in the day because he’s tall and very strong.
“But technically, I would say he’s a better version of Pogba in his best days at Juventus, in terms of his technique and his presence on the pitch.
“He’s very dominant like Pogba was, and that’s what I see in Ryan.”
Tevreden also believes Gravenberch’s next step will be to ‘a big club in Europe and he will be a big success’.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
